1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering knuckle assembly for vehicles, which can be readily changed in the case of changing a tie rod end point having a decisive influence on the toe change of a vehicle so as to have appropriate toe characteristics without developing a new knuckle structure unlike in the prior art.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, a steering system is used by a driver to change the traveling direction of a vehicle, and comprises an operation unit, a gear unit and a link unit.
The operation unit includes a steering wheel, a steering shaft and a column, and the driver directly operates the steering wheel to control both the gear unit and the link unit.
The gear unit functions to transfer the movement of the operation unit by changing the direction thereof. In a typical small vehicle, the gear unit utilizes a rack and a pinion so that rotation of the pinion imparts lateral movement to the rack meshed with the pinion.
The link unit functions to transfer the operation of the gear unit to front wheels while properly supporting the relational position of right and left wheels. The link unit comprises a tie rod connected to both ends of the rack and a steering knuckle which is connected to the tie rod via a ball joint.
In these circumstances, as the driver operates the steering wheel, the pinion cooperates with the rack so that the tie rod connected to the rack moves laterally so as to steer the wheels.
Some of conventional technologies related to the steering knuckle assembly are disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,150, Japanese Patent laid-open Publication No. Hei 5-193513, Japanese Patent laid-open Publication No. Hei 6-201305 and so on. According to these documents, an axle is inserted into a central portion of a knuckle via a ball bearing, in which a hub is inserted into the central portion of the knuckle, and a brake disk is attached to the hub.
Further, a ball joint bracket is mounted on a lower portion of the knuckle so that a ball joint which is arranged in a terminal end of a lower arm of a suspension can be coupled with the knuckle, and a terminal end of a tie rod is connected to the lower portion of the knuckle via the ball joint. On an upper portion of the knuckle, there is mounted a caliper for pressing against a rotating brake disk to create braking force.
According to the afore-described conventional knuckle assembly, however, in the case of changing a tie rod end point (i.e., a central point of the ball joint between the knuckle and the tie rod) which has a decisive influence on the toe change of a vehicle, the entire knuckle assembly is developed into a knew structure thereby raising fabricating cost as well as lowering workability.